E 

.8 

.(1,? 



NAKRATIVE 

OF THE 

FALL & WINTER CAMPAIGN, 

BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER 

OP THE 2nd DIV. IST ARSTT CORPS, 

Containing a Detailed Description of the 

"BATTLE OF FEEDERICKSBURG," 

At the portion of the line where the 2nd Div. -were Engaged. 
THTH ACCURATE STATEMENTS 

OF THE LOSS IN 

KILLED, WOUNDED AND MISSING, 

IN ■EA.CSi RK<3HMK>rT. 



SYRACUSE: 
MASTERS & LEE BOOK AND JOB PEINTEBS. 

. 1863. 






WeBt« Eeei> filrt» Boa^ 



Tif^r 



^ 



PREFACE 



The success of " A Sketch of the Campaign fi-om Cedar Mouataia to 
Antietam,'- has led the writer to a contiauation of the narrative in this 
little work, which he has endeavored to reader of more general inter- 
est than the other. Informition kindly furnished by the Brigade Com- 
manders, has enabled him to give a better and more detailed descrip- 
tion of the part sustained by. the Division in the battle of Fredericks- 
burg, than he could have done from his own personal observation ; 
and like the Sketch, this Narrative has been submitted to, and received 
the approval of those best calculated to judge of its truthfulness. With 
a hope that the fact of its having been written on the march and in 
camp, subject to frequent interruption and aanoyance, may render 
criticism more charitable, and it may be deemed worthy the same en- 
couragement bestowed upon his former effort, he remains 
Your obedieat servant, 

CHARLE3 S. McCLEXTHEN. 

Co. a, 26th Reg't N. Y. V. 



NAERATIVE. 



-• — « — ^> — •- 



During the few weeks of delightful weather wliich fo 
lowed the battle of Antietam, tlie 2nd, Rickett's Divisior 
of the 1st, Hooker's army corps, lay pleasantly encainpe 
/ near the banks of the Potomac, some two mi les from Sharp: 
burg, Maryland, spending the time not occupied in dril 
picket, and the other duties of a soldier, in r(ft'iewing th 
battles and other incidents of the Summer's campaign, di: 
cussing t])e merits of President Lincoln's Emancipatio 
Proclamation, speculating upon the probable coniiniianc 
of the war, and wondering what was to be done nex 
agreeably diversified by baking corn cakes -of meal grate 
by themselves on old canteens, punctured with the point ( 
a bayonet. In the meantime we had received new clothing 
blankets, and other articles necessary to our comfort an 
efficiency, and considerable accessions in numbers compo 
ed of recruits, convalescerits from the Hospitals, and tw 
large new Regiments, the 16th Maine and 136th Pa. Th 
Division was organized in three Brigades of Infantry, eac 
with a Battery of Artillery attached as follows : 

The 1st, Duryeas, under command of Col. McCoy of th 

107th Pa., composed of the 97th, Col. Wheelock ; 104tl 

\ Col. Prey ; and 105, Major Sharpe, — New York Reg 

meuts ; and the 107th Pa., Lieut. Col. McAllen in con 



mand. to which was attached the Pa. Battery commanded 
by Capt. Thompson. The 2nd, Tower's Brigade, command- 
ed by Col. Lyh^ of the 90th Pa. National Guard ; besides 
which Regiment, under command of Lieut. Col. Leech, 
there was the 26th, Lieut. Coh, now CoL Richardson, and 
91ih, Col. Koot,--New York Regiments ; the 88th Pa., 
Col. McLean, and the then recently added 136th Pa., Col. 
Bayne, with HalFs excellent 2nd Maine Battery of six 
Wiard Gim? ; and the .3rd, llart^uff's Brigade, commanded 
by Brig. Gen. Taylor. Tins Brigade, like the 2nd, had 
five Regiments, the I Ith Pa., Col. Cotter ; P2th xMass., Col. 
Bates; 13th Mns^., Col. Leonard; 9th N. Y. M., CoL 
Stiles and the IGtli Maine. Lieut. Col. Tilden ; and La- 
pi no's 5th llninc Battery of six brass 12 lb. pieces. 

Tlie whole Division, with the exception of some sickness 
in the 16th Maine which had not yet become acclimated, 
were in excellent condition, and would hardly have l)een 
recognized as the same body of men who reached Hall's 
Hill, ragged, dirty and dispirited on the night of the 2iid 
of S.?ptember i)revious. It has become almost proverbial 
among the soldiers that niarciiing orders and bad weaih»r 
come together, and the occasion of our leaviiig Sharpsburg 
proved no exception to the general rule, for on the 26tii of 
Oct., as we were about striking tents, and packing up to 
marcli in accordance with orders received, we were visited 
by a heavy cold rain storm, accompanied by a piercing 
north-cast wi.nd, the first really uncomfortable or disagreea- 
ble weather wo had e>i2ierienced since the battle of Chan- 
tilly on the night of the 1st of Sept. 

The 1st and 3rd Brigades, as well as the other Divisions 
belonging to the Corps, marched in this storm, while thf 



2nd remained on the ground of the old camp urttl'i 1 o'clock 
of the following day, when they tookup their line of march 
througli Sharpsburg, hack towards South Mountain, near 
the foot of which we halted for the fii-st night of our march, 
Oct. 27 th. On the morning of tho 28tii, although the 
roads were still muddy, the sky was clear and the sun 
shone out cheerfiiUy as we crossed the mountain at, or 
near Cram])ton's Pass, and co.itinaed our majch through 
Burkettsviilo. and turning to the riglit took the road; to 
Berlin, a little place on the river and rail road, six inilos 
below Harper's Fei'ry. Just as w^ were 'eivin-i- camp at 
Si.arpsburg, an old lady, from I^m. c^nie waddliii,:>: up to us 
witli a large and well stuffed carpet bag in each hand, in- 
quiring for the Gth Pa. R'3sprves. Upon being told they 
bad marched the day before, and wore tl»en. probably at 
Hnrper's Ferry, Avhich we then supposed our destination, 
she seemed much disappoint(;:l and almost ready to uivfi np. 
She said she had two sons in the 6th. and had walked all 
the way from Pa., bringing the two carpet bag- filled with 
cakes, cheese, bologna sausage, onions, &c., which she knew 
would prove acceptable to them, and now they were gone. 
She refused all offers from the soldiers to purchase any por- 
tion of her load, and upon ascertaining tho distance to 
where we supposed her sons were, concluded to continue 
her search for them ; so with a soldier on each side of her, 
who disputed for the privilege of carrying her carpet bags 
in addition to their already heavy 3oads, on she trudged 
with us, affording consideralde merriment by the odd man- 
ner in which she expressed her strange notions of a sol- 
dier's life. Arriving at Sharpsburg, she left us in the 
hopes of obtaining a ride iu some of the wagons or am- 



8 

bulances, enjoining upon us with her last words, if we saw 
her sons, of whose name or Company we knew nothing, to 
tell them she was coming. She found her sons I presume, 
for I saw her a day or two afterwards in Berlin, accom- 
panied by a stalwart Pa. soldier, who I am sure was bet- 
ter pleased with this proof of affectionate solicitude on the 
part of his mother, than the present she had so kindly 
brought him. 

Upon arriving at Berlin on the evening of the 28 th, wo 
found quite an army already encamped there, awaiting 
their turn to cross the pontoon bridge thrown across the 
Potomac at that point, and remained until the afternoon of 
Thursday the 80th. When crossing we marched through 
Lovettsville three miles from the river, and encamped 
about the same distance beyond, in the midst of a lovely 
country a few miles to the eastward of the Blue Ridge, 
along the side of which we could plainly see our signal 
stations. 

On Friday the 31st, we were inspected and mustered in 
for pay. Our Brigade, by Col. McLean, of the 8Sth Pa., 
who by main strength succeeded in breaking some of our 
bayonets, which as they are the strongest and best (with 
the exception of the sabre bayonet) in use in the army, and 
there was no probability of their being soon replaced, I 
looked upon as rather mistaken zeal on his part as an in- 
spector. We were also served with three day's rations, 
and three of us drawing together, received nearly 1 lb. 
salt pork for the three days, making our allowance less 
than the 27th part of a lb. to a meal ; but as I drew the 
rations and dislike discussion, I kept all the pork for my- 
self for fear of^causing a quarrel in the division. Notwith- 



standing the liberal allowance made and provided by gov- 
ernment for the subsistence of the army, it is an undenia- 
ble fact, that the men frequently suffer everything but 
downright absolute starvation from want of rations. This 
suffering arises from various causes, the only one of which 
that could not be easily remedied is the occasional delay in 
transportation. The others are, the issuing to troops on 
the march, of rations in larger quantities and for a great- 
er number of days than it is possible for the men to carry 
in their haversacks, (and which are necessarily left behind 
them,) for the purpose of lightening the trains and saving 
the officers of the department the annoyance of more fre- 
quent issues ; and the frauds and imposition which, although- 
I could not prove, I firmly believe to exist in the Depart- 
ment itself. 

Saturday, Nov. 1st. This morning a woman came into 
camp to complain of some soldiers who had broken into 
and robbed her house while she was absent for a short time, 
on the day before. She had two sons in the Union Army, 
one of whom was then in hospital suffering from wounds 
received while fighting in defense of our cause, and yet 
men claiming to be, and wearing the uniform of Union 
soldiers, were carrying off and destroying the little she 
had, taking things that were entirely useless to them, mere- 
ly to gratify their love of plunder and destruction. 

I can assert with pride and pleasure, that the vast majori- 
ty of the army have too much self esteem and conscien- 
tiousness to be guilty of such acts ; but there is a sufficient 
number of infamous wretches, who notwithstanding the 
vigilance of Provost Guards attached to each Division, are 
constantly committing outrages which detract from the 
1* 



10 

good Dame of the whole. While in Virginia they always 
excused themselves by saying the parties plundered are 
secesh ; but I have seen the same men prying open drawers, 
destroying valuable papers, breaking mirrors and crockery- 
ware, stealing cliildren«' shoes and ladies' bonnets, in the 
houses of good Union people in Maryland, who were busy 
with their hordes and wagons in bringing our wounded off 
the battle field ; and who had thrown open their doors, 
telling the soldiers to help themselves to everything they 
found to cat or drink. These acts are not committed by 
the men, who because they swore an occasional oath, made 
use of ardent spirits, or went fishing on Sunday, were call- 
ed hard cases at home ; but by men who are totally de- 
praved by nature, and who now, freed from the restraints 
imposed upon them by society and the laws at home, give 
full vent to their lawless inclinations and brutal passions. 
I am sorry to say too, that I have known instances where 
Company and Regimental officers encouraged pillaging, 
screening the ofi'ender and sharing the plunder. I have 
spoken of this subject somewhat at length, because in com- 
mon with all others making any pretentions to decency or 
respectability, I consider it ruinous to discipline and dis- 
graceful to the service ; and it has nothing whatever to do 
with the taking of property by the proper departments for 
government use?, confiscation of property for treason, or 
any other waste or destruction incidental to the existence 
of war, and justified by the usages of other civilized nations. 
I only speak of a system of lawless pillaging in which the. 
suCferers arc almost invariably the poor, weak and defense- 
less, the extent of ^\hose offense against the Government 
consists in living on the SquHi side of th^ Potomac, with- 



11 

out the means of removing to some more favored locality, 
while their wealthier neighbors — the instigators and sup- 
porters of the rebellion — have vamosed, bag and baggage, 
leaving nothing but their desolate mansions and broad 
fields behind them. There are many Quakers in this sec- 
tion of Loudon County, and nearly all the citizens profess 
to be, and I think really are loyal Union loving citizens. 
As a proof of this, some two or three Campanies of Volun- 
teers for the Union army have been raised in this vicinity, 
who are now doing good service as guides, sconts, in the 
detection of spies and other dangerous persons within our 
lines, and other duties best performed by those who are ac- 
quainted with the roads, inhabitants, &c. The rebels when 
here last, had taken all the men they found capable of bear- 
ing arms, forcing them from their labor in the fields, with- 
out giving them time to go to their houses for their clothing. 
Between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning we heard 
cannonading, said to be m the direction of Union, and 
marched soon after. Some 4 miles farther on we passed 
through a little village called Waterford, and continuing 
our march for a few miles came upon the Leesburgh and 
Winchester turnpike at Harmony, 2G miles distant from 
Winchester and 8 or 10 from Leesburirh, when, turninsc to 
the right and keeping along the turnpike for about 2 niiles, 
we turned into the fields to the left, and passing what 
would have made excellect camping grounds, halted at last 
in as miserable a spot as could have been foupd within 30 
miles of the place, where we remained until Monday, the 
3d of November. I had at this time been detailed for 
duty on the Division Provost Guard, and on Sunday, V 
3d, was placed as safeguard at the house of ^r* Fv 



12 

of Purcellville, as a little clump of three or four houses ©n 
the turnpike was called, and I here learned something of 
what had occasioned the firing for three or four days pre- 
vious. It seems Pleasanton's Cavalry with a battery of 
artillery had been skirmishing with the enemy with varia- 
ble success for two or three days, until Saturday they had 
succeeded in driving them from Union, and on through 
Ashby's Gap where we had heard the last firing. During 
the fight a shot from our battery had exploded one of the 
enemy's caissonsi 

There was at the house three paroled rebel prisoaers, 
two of them having lost a leg each at the last " battle of 
Bull Run." I held a long conversation with them, and 
found they were much like our own soldiers, anxious that 
the war should be ended, and not very particular upon 
what' terms. 

During the day Gens. McClellan and Burnside with 
their respective staffs arrived and took up their quarters 
at the house where I was for a few hours, when they again 
mounted and proceeded to the front, Gen. Burnside re- 
turning about 10 o'clock at night The rebels had been 
fortifying Snickersville a day or two before this, but had 
now evacuated it, and our forces had taken possession 
without opposition. While here, I heard a conversation 
which, as it certainly can do no harm and coincides so ex- 
actly with my own opinion, formed without the same op- 
portunities for judging correctly, I gladly repeat. It 
occurred between the officers of McClellan's and Burn- 
side's staffs, and was introduced by one of them (with the 
rank of Colonel who formerly held an important position 
on the staff of Gen. Pope) inquiring of another if he knew 



13 

when Gen. McDowell's court of inquiry took place. The 
person addressed replied that he thought it in progress at 
that time, when the first speaker said he thought it quite 
probable he would be called as a witness, and continued 
by saying lie thought Gen. McDowell possessed all the 
requisite qualifications for a commanding General in an 
eminent degree ; that in all the acts for which he had been 
so widely censured, he had been governed strictly by or- 
ders leceived from the War Department ; spoke of his 
skill and good generalship on the retreat from the Rapi- 
dan, and satisfactorily explained many of the charges 
brought against him by ignorant, prejudiced and irrespon= 
sible persons. Among other things, he mentioned Mc- 
Dowe?i as having always been a warm advocate of doing 
away with the old established and arbitrary precedence of 
seniority in rank as necessary for the good of the service, 
and spoke of the patience and manly forbearance with 
which he had borne his own supersedure and the repeated 
attacks made upon him by the Northern press, serving his 
country through all and in whatever position assigned to 
him faithfully and to the best of his ability, as an honora- 
ble, high-minded man and a true patriot. 

On Monday, November 3d, we were again on the move, 
and leaving the Leesburgh and Winchester pike at Pur- 
cellville, turned to the left in a southerly direction towards 
Fillemont. We had not proceeded far, however, before 
we turned to the right, taking a road which lead« ))y Sill- 
cotts Springs, crossed the Alexandria and Winchester pike 
between Snickersville and Fillemont near the latter place, 
and soon after halte«l for the night. I here saw some of 
the strongest Union people 1 had met with yet, and who 



14 

were as bitter in their denunciations of the " Southern 
ragamuffins," as they called ihcm, as ever a Southern fam- 
ily could be of tiie " Northern mud&ills." The man of the 
family had just returned from Maryland, where he had 
been since the advance of the Southern army, to escape 
conscription. They gave me a list of prices of some of 
the most common and necessary articles, and as they may 
be of interest I give some of them : 

Ordinary sixpenny calico, $1.00 per yard ; women's 
shoes, $6.00 per pair; and salt, $11.37 per bushel. 

On Tuesday, November 4th, much to the regret of the 
whole Division, Gen. Ricketts left us. Up to this time he 
had been constantly with us since the first organization of 
the Division at Fredericksburg, in the fore part of May 
previous, under command of Major General Ord. Upon 
the withdrawal of that officer, while on our laborious and 
fruitless march to Front Royal, soon after he had assumed 
command of the Division, the reputation which he had ac- 
quired at the first " battle of Bull Run," (where he was 
wounded and taken prisoner,) his coolness and bravery in 
battle, kindness and careful solicitude for the welfare of 
the troops under his command, together with his courteous 
and gentlemanly demeanor, all combining to gain for him 
the admiration, respect and confidence of l)oih officers and 
men. Of the causes for which he left us at this time I am 
profoundly ignorant, (although I presume it was })y his 
own request,) yet I cannot but deem it a matter of regret 
that he should separate himself from a Division whose in- 
terests and his own seemed so nearly identified, and which 
still bears his name. 

Gen. Ricketts was aucceieded in command of the Divis^ 



15 

ion by Brigadier General Gibbon, of whom we know but 
little, although he bears an excellent reputation generally, 
and is enthusiastically spoken of by his old Brigade in 
King's Division. Late in the afternoon of Tuesday we 
marched, passing through Bloomfield, at that time the 
headquarters of Gen. McClellan, and bivouaced for the 
night a mile or two beyond. 

Wednesday, November 5th, when the Division marched, 
at the earnest entreaty of a man named Carpenter, near 
whose house we were encamped, I was left behind as a 
safeguard until the next Division (Brooks', of Franklin's 
Corp?,) had passed on their road to Upperville. This man 
had suffered less than most others surrounded by an equal 
quantity of small stock, still he was loud and bitter in his 
complaints of the soldiers, and T felt but little sympathy 
for him when Capt, Whalcn, a Division Quartermaster, 
came and took his two work horses for Government usa 

On Thursday, November Glh, I again started on my 
winding way after the Division, along roads and through 
lanes, that were so crooked that a person lost all idea of 
the direction in which we were going, and our notions in 
regard to the points of the compass became so confused 
that even the sun itself was looked upon as a doubtful 
guide, and I was reminded of the story I have heard of 
the negro steersman of a small coasting vessel, whose 
master after having pointed out the north star and given 
him instructions to steer directly for it, went below feeling 
perfectly secure from mistake or accident. The negro 
soon after left to himself fell into a deep sleep, during 
which, the wind veering round, the vessel shifted her 
oourae, and he awoke to lind himself sailing in exactly tho 



16 

opposite direction from the «ne pointed out by the captain. 
He at first looked in vain for the star which was to have 
been his guide, but discovered it at last directly astern of 
him, when he called to his master, " Helio, massa, you haf 
to cum on deck an' show me annudder star, I dun pass dat 
un long ago." All the roads leading in this direction were 
filled with troops, trains. <fec., Burnside's and Sumner's 
Corps ahead, and Franklin's almost immediately behind 
our own, and it was no uncommon thing to find officers 
and men who had been unable to find their regiments 
for days. 

In my journal of this date I find some remarks in re- 
gard to sickness, straggling and demoralization in the new 
regiments of our Division not very creditable to the solid 
men of the North, of which they were supposed to be com- 
posed ; but it was their first long march; they carried 
heavier knapsacks and lacked the experience of the older 
soldiers, and have so nobly acquitcd themselves on the bat- 
tle field since then, tliat I beg their pardon for even this 
allusion to it. x\s I pushed forward on my road to Union 
where I expected to overtake the Division, I overtook on 
the road a paroled rebel prisoner, whose miserable appear- 
ance struck me so forcibly that I cannot pass the incident 
unnoticed. He was a young man of not more than twenty 
years of age, and had been taken prisoner and paroled at 
the hospital in Leesburgh. He was evidently in the last 
stages of a decline, and although nearly or quite six feet in 
height would not have weighed more thin a healthy child. 
He still preserved, however, a cheerful hopefulnese of spirit 
which to me was really suprising. He belonged to a North 
Carolina regime.rit,.aGd was now following our army in 



IT 

the hopes of finding some opportunity to get through our 
lined and reach his liome near Raleigh to die. as he soon 
must. Upon my telling him that he would not be allowed to 
pass our lines except at certain points designated in gene- 
ral orders, he lauglied at my simplicity, and said there 
"would soon be a big fight somewhere, when he could man- 
age it easily enough ; and from the fact that G-en, Stuart 
has since telegraphed to our Quartermaster General from 
Springfield within nine miles of Alexandria, I have no 
doubt he did. Upon arriving at what is called Quaker 
LanC; 1 found that our Division had gone to the right, and 
following in tlic same direction myself, I came upon the 
Middleburg turnpike at the point where it is crossed by 
Goose creek, when, after another hour's brisk walking, I 
saw the Division crossing the Pike but a short distance 
ahead of me, and was soon again in the ranks with my 
comrades, having made in two or three hours the whole 
distance accomplished by the Division since I had been 
left behind on the day before, although the men had been 
marched until tired the night before, and started again 
early that morning. We had now left the Middleburg 
p»ke, and were on one to the right; leading to Rectortown 
on the Manassas Gap railroad, where we had been twice 
before in the early part of the summer, going to and re- 
turning from Front Royal. It had been found expedient 
on the march to place guards at the houses which we 
passed and near which we were encamped, as un])rotected 
poultry yards presented inducements to straggling and 
pillage which hungry soldiers could not well resist, and on 
this night I was placed at the house of Mrs. Margaret 
Rector. The Colonel of one of the regiments in Burn- 



IS 

side's Corps had stayed at her house on the night pre- 
vious, and although he had stationed guards about the 
premises, and some of his men had slept in the stable, some 
one during the night liad stolen his iiorse, which seemed 
to please the ladies of the house very much, who supposed 
he had been mistaken for tlieir own. I here had an op- 
portunity ot conversing with a lady, the daughter of Mrs. 
Rectcr, and aunt to Gen. Rust (formerly in command of 
Fort Pillow) and Capt Rector, (killed at tlie last Bull 
Run,) both of the Confederate army. 8hc was lemarka- 
bly well posted in mo-t of the incidents of the war, and 
perfectly familiar with all the specious arguments used by 
the secesh in justification of their rebellion, which she put 
forward with great adroitness; but she coi^tideutly assert- 
ed, and I have no doubt really believed, that the whole 
force of the rebels in Maryland at the time of the baitlcs 
of South Mountain and Antietam, did not exceed thirty 
thou.-^and, wdiich I mention as w specimen of the egregious 
falsehoods circulated by the rebels to give hope and en- 
couragement to their friends and supporters. She said 
the rebel and union soldiers were just alike — they all 
robbed her whenever they had the opportunity ; yet she 
was very kind to our men, giving them bread, milk, po- 
tatoes, &c., cheerfully, and laughed heartily at soma who 
had engaged her in conversation in front of the house, 
while others were stealing her chickens in the rear, before 
we arrived. 

Friday, November 7th. Up to this time we had been 
blessed with as delightful campaigning weather as ever 
gladdened the heart of a soldier, but now the scenes were 
suddenly shifted, aud instead of the clear, bracing weather 



19 

which had rendered our march so plensant so far, we were 
treated to a severe snow sfcorai a^ an inkling of what we 
might expect during the corning winter. We marched all 
day in the storm, passing throug!i the little village of Sa- 
lem, and thirteen miles farther, the larger and prettier one 
of Warren ton, for the third time, and encamped not far 
from our old camping grounds at that place. At Salem, I 
sought shelter from the storm for a short time in a little 
church that stood by the road.side, and was somewhat 
amused by writing done on the wails by the soldiers of both 
armies. Some of it was in the form of question and an- 
swer, like the following: '' Who run the Yankees out of 
Salem V Ans. ''The Texas boys.'' Under which, evi- 
dently of a loiter date, was, "Who give the Texas boys 
h — 11 at South Mountain?'' Ans. " Hatch's Brigade," &c., 
<fec. Over the pulpit was a charcoal sketch of Jeff. Davis, 
hung by the neck, whic'n, from the names inscribed near 
it, I supposed to have been executed by some of Blenker's 
Germans ; and on the road between here and AVarrenton 
we passed the house formerly occupied by Mr. Frank 
Smith, where, in the spring, Robert K. Sco*t, Ksq., an emi- 
nent lawyer of Warrenton, and a staunch Union mm, had 
been killed in an attempt to arrest two s rag^lers or de- 
serters from the same Division, (Blenker's.) Warrenton, 
notwitlistanding the gloominess of the weather, seemed to 
wear equally as lively an air as upon our two other visits 
to it during the summer. The streets were filled with 
officers and men, among whom might be seen many in- 
valided rebel soldiers, and the surgeons left in charge of 
them. 
Our advance into this portion of Va.. at this time seem- 



20 

ed to have taken them by surprise, most of them having 
supposed the Union array would go into winter quarters 
along the line of the Potomac, while thoir's would occupy 
nearly tlie same position as the winter before. On the af- 
ternoon of Saturday, the 8th Nov., HartsufiTs, or rather 
Taylor's Brigade, marched for Rappahanock Station, on the 
Orange & Alexandria Rail Road, from which our cavalry 
and a Battery of artillery had driven the enemy on Friday 
night, taking a few prisoners, and with a few judiciously 
distributed shells, forcing those encamped on the other side 
to skedaddle in the most approved style, leaving their 
tents, camp equipage, &c., behind them. These remained 
standing where they were for several days, the enemy mak- 
ing some slight demonstration as if to retake tliem ; but a 
wholesome dread of our artillery prevented their doing 
this, and at last Col. Colter of the 11 th Pa., in pity for the 
annoyance they must feel in seeing their property still 
there without daring to approach it, went over with his 
Regiment and brou3;ht their traps to our side of the river. 
On the march and while at tliis place, I saw many men 
that had been wounded, but were now convalescent, parol- 
ed prisoners and others on their way to rejoin their Reg, 
iments, some singly, others in squads, and quite a body of 
them brought up the rear under an escort or guard of cav- 
alry, and were turned over to the Provost Marshals, to be 
sent to their respective Regiments. A large proportion of 
this number doubtless were worthless skulkers and strag- 
glers, who fully deserved the treatment tiiey had received ; 
but among them were men whom I knew to be faithful, 
zealous soldiers, whose statements were entitled to the ful- 
lest credence, and for the sake of these and such as these I 



devote space to a brief account of the convalescent camp 
misery, at Alexandria, as received from them, in the hope 
that it may meet the eye of those in whose power it is to 
prevent a continuance of the abuses mentioned. Wounded 
in battle they had been sent to hospital, and from thence, 
when sufficiently recovered, to the convalescent camp to 
await an opportunity of rejoining their Regiments, Here 
it seems those newly urrived are formed in line daily, and 
their own statements taken as to their ability to do duty, 
the honest, faithful man in his anxiety to return to his Reg- 
iment, perhaps professing to be better than he really is, is 
immediately sent to the camp of stragglers, deserters, and 
other bad characters, to await the departure of a squad to 
that portion of the army to wiiich he belongs. Here the 
quarters arc represented as miserable and filthy in the ex- 
treme, and he is sent daily to work under a strong guard 
like a convicted criminal, remaining in some instances ia 
tills situation for weeks, when he is again sent under guard 
to join his Regiment, exasperated and demoralized by the 
treatment he has received. On the other hand the habit- 
ual shirk pretends to some ailment, and remains with good 
food and quarters, under the treatment of the Surgeons. 
In the case of those who rejoined us at Warren ton, they had 
been sent from Alexandria to Harper's Ferry, and started 
from there, with only one day's rations, to follow and over- 
take their Regiments in the front, which they did after a 
march of over sixty miles, making twenty-two miles with- 
out rations on the last day, some of them unable to keep up, 
having been brutally maltreated by the guard of cavalry 
■which accompanied them. I myself saw a General of the 
Union Army borrow a waggoner's whip, and apply it to 



22 

the back of one of them who, goaded to desperation, and 
whose physical debility was sufficiently proven by his ap- 
pearance ,had made him, what was construed as an insolent 
reply, with as little mercy as would have been bestowed 
upon a baulky mule. 

I here also give a brief, but authentic history of the 
"Virginia Black Horse Cavalry" (of which so much has 
been said and written, with so little truth), obtained from 
citizens of Warrenton, whose acquaintance I had formed 
years ago, while temporarily a resident of the place. It 
was first organized in this (Fauquier) County some years 
ago as a Volunteer Cavalry Company, and was composed 
mostly of the gentry of the county, candidates for admission 
being elected by ballot, and exercised no small influence 
upon the local elections and other matters of public interest 
throughout the county. Daring the excitement caused by 
John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry in 1859, it received 
a new impetus and some accessions in numbers, but has 
never numbered more than from 130 to 150 members. It 
was comunindefj at the commencement of the war by Cnpt. 
John Scott, who upon leaving it to take command of a 
troop of partizan cavalry, was succeeded by W. U. Payne, 
of Warrenton, who has since been promoted to Mnjor of 
some other organization, and whom I saw in Warrenton 
last summer wounded and a paroled prisoner. The troop 
is now commanded by Capt. Charles Randolph ; and if we 
except the first battle of "Bull Kun/' where they are said 
to have charged upon some of our troops when they were 
in full retreat after the rout became general, have not been 
in any engagement during the war, and have lost but two 
men killed (Gordon and Tyler), who were sliot through 



2S 

mistake -by the pickets of a South Carolina Regiment. 
They have been doing duty most of the time as body 
guard to Gen. Ewell or some other, their horses are not, 
and never have been generally, black, and they are simply a 
very good body of gentlemanly '' feather-bed soldiers ; " an 
excellent illustration of the "great cry and little wool " 
>torics so common at the present time. 

On Sunday, the 0th November, salutes were fired, and 
the troops turned ont for review, upon the occasion of 
McClellan taking his farewell and Burnside assuming com- 
mand of the army. At this time it was generally supposed 
by us that Gen. McClellan had been appointed Command- 
er in Chief, and our regret at parting with him in the field, 
even under tV.ese circumstances, was very great ; but v/hen 
it became known that his connection with the army was to 
cease altogether, the excitement for the time seriously men- 
aced the discipline and morals of the army. Officers 
threatened resignation, men desertion, and all vented their 
indignation in curses both loud and deep, upon those whom 
they thought the cause- of or in any way connected with 
his witlidrawal. These feelings soon gave way to the de- 
spondency of hopelessness or utter indifi'erence, which in 
its turn wore off, leaving the officer.-^ and men in the per- 
formance of their duties with the same cheerfulness, and 
eating tbeir rations with as good an appetite as if nothing 
had liappcncd. It is generally tlio case, that when any 
great popular favorite is displaced by other means than the 
popular will, some portion of the regret and dissatisfaction 
of their friends and admirers finds vent in splenetic denun- 
ciation of, and detraction from the merits of their succes- 
sor ; it was not to in this case ho\»rever, fcr am^id all the 



84 

regrets consequent upon the removal or withdrawal of 
McClellan, and the execration of those supposed to have 
been the cause, there was no objection raised to Gen. Burn- 
side, and there is no doubt but the speedy reconciliation of 
the army to the loss of the former, was owing to the high 
estimation placed upon the services, and the perfect confi- 
dence then felt in the talent and integrity of the latter. 

On Monday, 10th, we again struck tents and marched 
for Beallton Station, on the Orange & Alexandria Rail 
Road, between Warrenton Junction and the Rappahanock. 
The distance from Warrenton village is but little over 
nine miles, yet notwithstanding most of the officers and 
men were familiar with this section of the countr*. we 
were marched by a roundabout way at least fifteen miles 
before reacliing the station, which we did at last, tired 
and out of patience late at night. 

I believe there is but little use in my saying anything 
about the mismanagement, and lack of judgment sometimes 
displayed by General officers in marching their commands, 
and the sel<*ction of camping grounds for them ; it would 
do no good, and I am like tiie man who swore terribly 
when one or two pumpkins rolled off his load, but when 
the end board came out, and the whole waggon load went 
tumbling down the hill together, remained silent ; and 
wlien asked why he did not swear then, "Ah/*' says he, " its 
no use, I can't do the subject justice." 

Upon the march referred to, a little incident occurred, 
which though slight in itself, served to amuse me, in spite 
of my ill humor at being marched so far out of our way. 
It had been found necessary for the prevention of strag* 
gling to the front, to send a guard in advance of the Divi- 



25 

sion immediately following the Gen., and upon this occa- 
sion I was one of the party detailed for this duty. We had 
lialted for a few moments to rest, the Gen. and staff riding 
on ahead, when an officer rode up and inquired for Gen. 
Gibbons, to which one of our number, a new recruit belong- 
ing to the 90th Pa., and just from Philadelphia, replied, 
" Well, I guess he's about three squares ahead." 

We remained at Beallton one week, and before march- 
ing again there was some changes made in the different 
Brigades ; the 88th Pa., Col. McLean, leaving us for Tay- 
lor's Brigade ; and the 94th N. Y., for Duryeas, of which 
Col. Root, a young but highly meritorious officer, formerly 
Lieut. Col. of the 21st N. Y. (Buffalo) Regiment, took com- 
mand. The 97th N. Y., Col. Wheelock, was also trans- 
ferred to Taylor's Brigade, while the 16th Maine replaced 
it in Duryeas' or Root's, and the 12th Mass., a small but 
excellent Regiment, formerly commanded by Col. Fletcher 
Webster, was assigned to ours in the place of the two tak- 
en, leaving us with four Regiments, while each of the other 
two have five. Here I was placed on guard at the house 
of a man who had taken the oath of allegiance, and had 
Union protection papers which afforded just no protection at 
all, unless shown at the end of a guard's bayonet, and even 
then was powerless to protect him from some forms of an- 
noyance. Once while there, a soldier came with a very 
dull axe, which the old man helped him to grind, turning 
the stone himself, when to punish him as I suppose, for not 
having furnished cider, the soldier tried the edge of his axe 
on one of his finest young apple trees, as he passed it on 
his way back to camp. At this house I saw a young man 
who had just returned from Richmond, via. Fredericksburg. 



26 

He stated there were no troops on the way except in the 
immediate vicinity of Richmond ; and all the citizens in 
this section seemed much surprised at the reappearance of 
our army here at this time, believing their own to be still 
in the valley of Virginia, or somewhere in the rear of us. 

We left Beallton on Monday the 17th of November, tak- 
ing what is called " the old marsh road," towards Fred- 
ericksburg ; passing through Morrisville and Grove Church 
we bivouacked for the first night at Deep Run, the line be- 
tween Fauquier and Stafford Counties, where I saw a man 
who would prove a great curiosity in any part of the 
world, but was more especially so in this portion of Vir- 
ginia, which has always been noted for its fox hunting, 
horse racing, cock fighting, card playing and whiskey 
drinking gentry. He was thirty odd years of age, over 
six feet in height, and declared most positively, in which 
he was seconded by his wife, that he had never drank a 
drop of intoxicating liquor, chewed or smoked any tobac- 
co, played or bet upon a game at cards, or indulged in any 
of the bad practices, not only common, but almost univer- 
sal in this part of the world. He was passionately fond of 
hunting and fishing however, had sliot an eagle the day be- 
fore, measuring over eight feet from tip to tip of its wings, 
and gave me some fresh fish from the Run for my break- 
fast. He had been drafted under the conscription act, but 
managed to be absent on one of his hunting excursions 
when they came for him, and although they had left an or- 
der for him to report at Morrisville, he said he had nothing 
to report and remained at home. In other words " He 
could'nt see it." He had six hundred acres of good land, a 
pretty wife, and two healthy good natured children, said 



' 27 

lie had never done a day's work in his life, and was upon 
the whole, secesh or union, war or no war, one of the hap- 
piest, easiest going fellows I have ever met I shall not 
divulge the name of this Virginia non-secesh, as I have 
some notion of trying to engage him for exhibition when 
the war is over, and I am afraid he would not escape Bar- 
num as easily as he did the draft. 

A tiling which struck me forcibly and with surprise was, 
that in all my conversations with citizens while on the 
march through Virginia, they invariably spoke of the 
South Carolina soldiers as the poorest and least to be de- 
pended upon of any in the confederate service, and I have 
heard the same opinion expressed by prisoners of war. The 
9th Va. Cavalry was frequently spoken of as an active and 
efficient cavalry Regiment, but all concurred in the state- 
ments already made in regard to the Black Horse Cavalry. 

Tuesday 18th, we proceeded on the road to Fredericks- 
burg as far as Hartwood Church, ten miles from Freder- 
icksburg, where we found Burnside's and Sumner's old corps 
already encamped ; and turning to the left took the road 
towards Stafford Court House, halting for the night seven 
miles from the Court House, nine from Brooks' Station, 
and fifteen from Acquia Creek Landing. It rained during 
the night and next day, and we had not proceeded more 
than a mile or two on the following morning, before we 
found the road almost impassable. The soil through this 
section is a light sandy loom, which, when wet with slight 
rains makes very good wheeling for light vehicles, but af- 
fords no sufiicient bottom for the heavy laden supply-trains, 
ammunition wagons and artillery, which sank almost to 
their axles in the occasional quicksands along the narrow 



28 

and crooked road, cut in many places through a dense 
thicket or undergrowth of young pines. We remained for 
several hours in a pelting rain, at the bottom of a deep ra- 
vine we were obliged to cross, while the pioneers of Dou- 
bleday's Division and our own, were trying to make the 
road up the hill on the othci' side practicable for the trains, 
and were forced to leave them behind at last. Ascending 
the hill and turning to the right, wo soon came upon the 
Pa. Reserves, encamped in a large hollow or basin almost 
entirely surrounded by hills upon all sides, and went into 
camp, the wagons not coming up until the next morning. 
We remained here several days, the first two or three of 
which it rained almost constantly, pickets were tlirown out, 
and large details vv^ere made to work upon the road daily. 

Sunday the 24th, we marched to near Brooks' Station 
on the Rail Road, from Fredericksburg to Acquia Creek, 
and encamped within half a mile of what had been so 
pleasant a camp in the Spring. 

Upon returning to a place which had been before visited, 
the mind naturally reverted to the changes that had taken 
place in the interim, and with us they were many and sug- 
gestive. Upon the arrival of our Regiment (the 26th N. Y.) 
at this place early in the Spring of 1862, after nearly a 
year spent in drill, working on fortifications, doing picket 
and garrison duty, we numbeied over nine hundred men 
eager lo distinguish ourselves in the field, as we had alrea- 
dy done with the pickaxe and spade ; a fact which Forts 
Ellsworth and Lyon, proud monuments of our energy and 
zeal as diggers of mud, fully attest. Under command of a 
Col., Avhose excellence as a diciplinarian and drill master, 
together with his fine military bearing, had gained for him 



29 

our unlimited confitience ; assigned to the command of Brig- 
ade and Division Generals (Ord and Ricketts) who had al- 
ready distinguished themselves since the beginning of the 
war, under these auspices we looked forward to a useful 
and brilliant campaign, to wliich those that were spared 
could point back with pride and pleasure. How have 
those sanguine expectations been realized? Our Col. has 
proven himself to be afflicted vv^ith a constitutional timidity 
under fire, that even his pride and ambition for military 
distinction could not overcome, and which at last forced 
him to resign under unfcivorable circumstances ; and after 
long, weary marches, upon which we have seen our com- 
rades sicken one by one, and battle fields where they have 
been killed and wounded by dozens, without eliciting even 
a passing newspaper remark , we return with less than one- 
third our original number present for duty ; but moralizing 
is not my forte, and if I go on in this manner I shall soon 
be unable to extricate myself. 

Soon after our arrival, the trains commenced runnino: 
from Acquia Creek landing, thus affording us an easy com- 
munication with our base of supplies, and the length of 
time we remained encamped here, during excellent weather 
for active military operations, led many to suppose we were 
permanently located here for the winter, and the men com- 
menced building log shanties, digging log cellars, &c., tax- 
ing their ingenuity to the utmost, in contriving how they 
should make themselves comfortable during the severity of 
the coming winter. 

About this time, several officers of one of the Regiments 
in our Brigade were court marshaled, for having appropri- 
ated the private's rations to their own use, which v/as gen- 



30 

erally applauded by the men as evidence of the fact, that 
army regulations applied to officers as well as men, and 
that we had a General who would enforce them. While 
at this camp I received six hundred copies of " A Sketch 
of the Campaign in A^irginia and Maryland," the success 
of which has led me to the publication of this, and I was 
both surprised and pleased at the avidity with which the 
soldiers bought and read it. In offering it for sale, I ob- 
tained some insight into the character of certain individu- 
als, of which I should otherwise have remained in ignor- 
ance. Several of the field officers in the Division had tak- 
en quite a number of them, and among others I called up- 
on Col. McLean, of the 88th Pa. He had been absent on 
sick leave nearly the whole time of which the Sketch 
treated, leaving the Regiment in command of the Lieut. 
Col., his brother who was killed at Bull Run, when the 
command devolved upon Maj. Gial, who was severely 
wounded at Antietan. The Regiment had lost largely in 
killed, wounded and from sickness, and had suffered more 
from want of tents, clothing, blankets, shoes, &c., than any 
other I had seen in the field ; indeed, I doubt if any Reg- 
iment could have been found in the proverbially ragged 
and shoeless ranks of the rebel army, that would have pre- 
sented a more destitute appearance than they did for 
weeks after the battle of Antietam, and until within a few 
days of our march from Sharpsburg, when the Col. return- 
ed. 

The Col. was sitting in his tent, when I asked him if I 
could sell him a sketch of the campaign written by a pri- 
vate soldier ; " No sir ! " said he, " 1 was all along there, 
know all about it," He has since ended his military career 



31 

by resigning before the battle of Fredericksburg. The 
next was Col. Colter, of the " old eleventh Pa.," an officer 
who has been present, and distinguished himself upon ev- 
ery occasion where his Regiment has been engaged, re- 
maining on the field in command of his Regiment when 
wounded in the battle of Fredericksburg ; and whose de- 
termined, unflinching bravery on the field, together with 
his energy and promptness, in seeing that his men are pro- 
perly provided for, has made him a general favorite with 
the whole Division. " Yes sir ! " was his ready reply, " buy 
anything written by a private soldier." 

Although the nights were cold, the weather during our 
stay at Brooks' Station was generally delightful until the 
5th December, when we had a cold rain which soon turn- 
ed to snow, and continued until the ground was covered 
to the depth of four or five iaches, and was followed by sev- 
eral days extremely cold weather, causing me to regret my 
incredulity as to the length of our stay, which had prevent- 
ed me from fixing up my tent. 

No day is suffered to pass in the army, without the cir- 
culation of new and contradictory reports, which are like 
the wind, no man knowing whence they come ; and at this 
time they were as plentiful and contradictory as ever — all 
sorts of stories being told of what other portions of the ar- 
my were doing, and what was to be done with us. One 
day the enemy had crossed the Rappahannock, and taken 
our pickets prisoners in a body ; the next they had evacu- 
ated Fredericksburg, and we were immediately to advance 
by that route to Richmond. Some had heard that we were 
to be shipped at Acquia Creek to join the army in North 
Carolina, while others had positive information from au- 



32 

thentic sources, that the New York two years Regiments 
were to be mustered out of the service, and new Regiments 
fill their places. The old troops paid but little attention 
to these reports, well knowing from experience, that men 
in the service can be certain of nothing faster than it ac- 
tually occurs ; but the new ones were not a little puzzled 
in trying to believe them all at once. The arrival of the 
pontoons, however, settled the question, and it became ev- 
ident that we were to cross the Rappahannock, and give 
battle to the enemy at or near Fredericksburg ; so on 
Tuesday, the 9th December, we again packed up and mov- 
ed in that direction, crossing the Potomac Creek, and halt- 
ing for the night a short distance beyond. 

Wednesday, December 10th. Moved forward on the 
road to Fredericksburg as far as Gen. Burnside's head- 
quarters, and turning to the left on the road to Belle 
Plain, went into camp. At night it was reported that 
we had orders to move, first at 1 and then at 3 o'clock 
in the morning ; but at 9 or 10 o'clock the pontoons upon 
which we expected to cross the river were still blocked in 
the road near our camp by artillery and wagon trains, offi- 
cers swearing and hallooing at the drivers, drivers kicking 
and cursing their mules and each other, the mules braying, 
(or cheering for Siegel, as the boys call it,) making alto- 
gether as noisy and discordant an entertainment as ever 
disturbed the rest of a sleepy soldier. We were awakened 
on the morning of the 11th by artillery firing in the direc- 
tion of Fredericksburg ; and as the first faint, gray streaks 
of the dawn made their appearance in the east, we fell in 
and took the road towards the river, below the town. 
Upon arriving at an " old field " just back of the bluffs 



33 

which overlook the river at this point, we were halted and 
remained until the next morning. The fire of our artil- 
lery, which had commenced before daylight, increasing in 
rapidity and volume until 9 or 10 o'clock, and was di- 
rected upon the town, woods or anything that might afford 
shelter for the rebel troops within range of our guns on 
the opposite side of the river, elicited no reply from any- 
thing in the shape of artillery ; but a small body of sharp- 
shooters in that portion of the town near the river, con- 
tinued to make their appearance occasionally, firing upon 
our men engaged ia the construction of the pontoon 
bridges, killing and wounding a number, and seriously re- 
tarding the progress of the work, until finding the artil- 
lery ineffectual to put a stop to this annoyance, a portion 
of the 98th New York crossed the river in boats under 
cover of our batteries, and succeeded in taking the whole 
number prisoners. With the exception of these men, and 
two shanghai roosters that were strutting up and down 
the opposite bank of the river, lustily crowing their defi- 
ance of the Yankees, not even the smoke of a single chim- 
ney gave evidence that the town was inhabited. How 
the shanghais, before mentioned, escaped capture with the 
sharpshooters, I cannot well conjecture, as neither of them 
showed the white feather. At noon, with the exception 
of an occasional shot, the firing ^ had entirely ceased, but 
was rene\\'ed afterwards with increased vigor, and kept up 
until after the capture made by our infantry and the com- 
pletion of the pontoon bridges. During the day we were 
also regaled by excellent music, discoursed by the splendid 
mounted band, attached to Bayard's Cavalry Brigade, 

which came up after we did, and encamped in the woods 
2* 



84 

in onr rear. The weather was remarkably fine, and, in- 
spirited by the cannonade, suffering neither from want 
of rations or the fatigue of a long march, the men retired 
to rest at night in splendid condition, for whatever ser- 
vice might be required of them upon crossing the river 
next day. 

Early on the morning of Friday, December 12th, we 
fell in and moved to the bank of the river, about a mile 
and a half below the town, where they had succeeded in 
completing two pontoon bridges, and were there halted to 
await the crossing of Smith's (late Franklin's) Sixth Army 
Corps. Our Division commenced crossing at about 12 M., 
but when the 3d Brigade (Taylor's) and the 12th Massa- 
chusetts, of the 2d, were over we were again halted to 
allow Bayard's Cavalry Brigade to cross, when the re- 
mainder of the Division followed ; the 3d Division (Meade's 
Pennsylvania Reserves) and artillery crossing the lower 
bridge at the same time. Upon reaching the summit of 
the bluff on the south side of the river at this point, there 
extends a gently undulating plain of about a mile and a 
half in width, through the centre and most elevated por- 
tion of which runs the Bowling Green turnpike, in a south- 
easterly direction, and gradually receding from the river. 
Along the farthest edge of the plain, and at the foot of a 
long range of hills, whose wooded slopes afforded a cover 
for the enemy's infantry, splendid positions for the plant- 
ing of their batteries, and from which our numbers and 
position in the plain beneath, were as easily discernable as 
the moves upon a chess board, runs the railroad to Rich- 
mond ; the ditches and embankments of which formed the 
first line of the enemy's works. Their position was well 



35 

chosen, and a strong one, which, taken together with the 
fact of their having made no opposition to our crossing 
after the completion of the bridges, seemed to say, "Thus far 
shalt thou come, and no farther." There certainly seemed 
but little prospect of success in an attack, except through 
great superiority of numbers and the well known excellence 
of our artillery, which must be attended with heavy loss. 
After crossing, Bayard's Cavalry Brigade was thrown to 
the front as skirmishers, to ascertain the exact position of 
the enemy, and we were marched by a flank in the rear of 
and to the left of Smith's Corps, which had already formed 
in line of battle between the Bowling Green road and the 
river. Each Brigade v^^as massed in column of battalions 
at intervals of 250 paces ; and we remained for a short 
time in this position, when the lines of Smith's Corps hav- 
ing been extended on the left, we moved farther down the 
river to near the large stone residence of Arthur Bernard, 
halted, and the 2d and 3d Brigades deployed in line of 
battle, facing eastward and at right angles with the river, 
the 3d Brigade in front, the 2d (Col. Lyle) in the rear, of 
that, with the 1st Brigade, under command of Col. Root, 
massed within supporting distance m the rear. 

After remaining in this poEjJtion for some time, we were 
again moved to the right withiu 200 yards of the Bowling 
Green road, and formed an ^blique line of battle, with our 
left thrown forward, and our right resting upon the left of 
Smith's Corps, the brigades retaining their relative posi- 
tion to each other. .... 

After having taken this position^^ the 1st and ,3d Divis- 
ions of our Corps passed in our ^r to the left, of us and 
formed lines of battle, the 3d (Getf. Meade) with his right 



resting upon our left, and the 1st (Gen. Doubleday) on the 
left of the 3d, with his line extending towards the river, 
facing eastward. 

During the movements I have endeavored to describe, 
the fog tinder cover of which we had crossed the river 
iiad ctisappeared, and the rebels had shown themselves 
cognizant of our presence' oh their side of the river by a 
few well-directed shots from one of their batteries, one or 
5wO of Nvhich seemed to me ft-om where I stood, to fall ex- 
jactly 111 the ranks of Doubleday's Division, then to the 
right of lis. TBej^ were replied to by our long-range guns 
bn the north bank of the riteir, and much to my surprise 
soon ceased firing, a continuation of which ffiiist, have re- 
sulted in considerable loss to some portion of bur troops 
massed upon the plain. About this time I also distinctly saw 
through the openings in the woods on the hills to the right 
and in front 'of us, a body of rebel infantry moving to- 
wards theit right. While posting pickets in advance there 
was some little skirmishing, during which some of the 6th 
Wisconsin, of Doubleday 's Division, were killed or 'wound- 
ed ; andtow&rds night Gens. Burnside and Franklin, with 
their respective staffs, passed' down to the leift, their ap- 
pearance being greeted by as much enthusiasm as would 
hsite been elicited by "IJttle Mac" himself; after which 
Wr^iilained quietly resting on our arms in the position 
Hescffbbd,^ during the bii^ cold night which folio we9^ 
aV^king in tTEe iSornin^ 'feumb and stiff witH'the cold, 
tafhe rbar'of the^artitl^y as'it tliimdered forth its not§ 
of preparatioEitfi53: the hot. day's work before' uS;^'' '''" *'''''"■* 
■^'^Oy th^ iMbrniiidi|i|ifc l#!fi, after making- cotfc^ dn§-&es- 
Mtchiii^ bUr'iBcltiM|Mtetet, the last bnd^r midny )^p&6t 



w 



•i'^- 



fellow whom the setting sun l^ft stark and cold in .. deajth 
upon tliat fatal field, we remained as we were Until aboui 
9 o'clock:, when breaking Iqv the jight of companies to the 
front into, column, the 8d^ and 2d Brigades crossed the 
Bowling Green road, and advanced into the, field bejond 
and about one-third of the distance irom tlie road to the 
enemy's first line, when. the ^d Brigade^ taking advantage of 
a slight elevation of the ground in front of them, halted and 
formed an oblique line with their left thrown forward, and 
the 2d Brio^ade conformino; to their movement, halted about 
one hundred vards in their rear. The Pennsylvania Ibat- 
tery, commanded by Captain Thompsoii, took up their posi; 
tion upon our ri^ht, the Division, next, u^ on ,^10 left qf 
Smith's corps moving to the rear at about the same time. On 
our left was the 2d Maine battery; and at tlie distance of 
about four hundred yards Meade's Division of Pennsylvania 
Reserves. In taking this position we were exposed to a 
heavy iire of shot and shell from tlie, enemy's batteries to 
the right and in front of us, and were ordered to lie down 
where we remained for several houi's^ during which-, timj§ 
we suffered considerable'loss, that in the 2d Bri<?ade amount- 
inj2: to sixteen killed' and Iwounded^' The surface of wi 
earth which m the morning 'had been frozen hard, was now 
covered with mud and water several inches in depth,,in which 
the st^ot and shell which came wliizzing, pluuging and explpd; 
ing amono^ us, Occasionally killino^ or wounding some of oun 
ntirnter, made it necessary for "us to lie close down^'VeuiJe/; 
ing our position a peculiarly painful and trying as" well 'as 
dangerous one. . ^ ,. r ~ . ' r r . /-i r 

/At a little Defore one o^clock,.'ii\ 'tUe' aif;ernoo]i, "thje 
feiifeniy dpeiied fire from tt^o or three batteries they had 



,88 

placed in position on a wooded bluff in front of Meade's 
Division, and were replied to by the batteries of Meade's, 
Doubleday's and the 2d Maine (Captain Hall,) of our Di- 
vision. The firing for a time was terrific; but the enemy 
having one of their caissons exploded, it was discontinued 
upon their part, and at about the same time Meade's Divi- 
sion, and the 2d and 3d Brigades of our own, moved almost 
simultaneously to the front. As we advanced, in addition 
to the artillery fire to which we were already exposed, we 
were opened upon by the enemy's infantry from the ditches 
and embankments of the railroad and the rifle pits in front: 
but pushing forward to within fifty yards of their first line, 
Taylor's Brigade halted and commenced firing, as the 2d 
Brigade, Col. Lyle, moved up, taking position in line with 
and on the left of them, and also opened fire upon the ene- 
my. During this time the first line of Meade's 3d Division 
wavered perceptibly, and at last commenced falling back 
before the scathing fire and overwhelming force of the ene- 
my massed against them, leaving us exposed to an enfilading 
fire from that direction. We remained thus in the open 
field, loading and firing, with the terrible and concentrated 
fire of the enemy's partially concealed infantry and artille- 
ry, fast thinni^ng our ranks, until several of the Regiments 
were entirely destitute of ammuniti®n, orders being sent in 
the meantime to Col. Root's Brigade, which had hitherto 
been held as a reserve, to advance to the front and charge 
the enemy's works with the bayonet. Having unslung 
knapsacks and fixed bayonets before advancing, they came 
up in splendid style, the 107 th Pennsylvania, Colonel Mc- 
Coy, 105th New York, Major Sharpe, and the 16th Maine, 
Lieutenant- Colonel Tiiden, in line of battle in front, with 



89 

the 94tli New York, Major Kriss, and 104th New York, 
Col. Prey, in two parallel lines at intervals of fifteen paces 
in the rear. Passing over the 26th New York, Major 
Jennings, and 90 th Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel Leech, 
who were out of ammunition and had lain down for the 
purpose, they moved to the front accompanied by the 12th 
Massachusetts, Colonel Bates, and the 136th Pennsylvania, 
Colonel Bayne, of the 2d Brigade; but as they first felt the 
full force of the enemy's fire, their pace slackened, some of 
the men commenced firing without orders, and it required 
the combined and most strenuous exertions of the Brigade; 
Regimental and line officers, assisted by Gen. Taylor of the 
3d Brigade, to prevent a halt, which, under the circum- 
stances, must have been attended with the most disastrous 
results, and continue the advance. Upon regaining the 
impetus of their advance, and as they neared the railroad, 
with a shout and a run they cleared the ditches and em- 
bankments, waging a hand to hand conflict with the enemy, 
and penetrated the woods beyond, taking over two hundred 
prisoners, belonging mostly to North Carolina and Tennes- 
see regiments, of A. P. Hill's Division, among whom was 
the Lieutenant-Colonel of the 33d North Carolina. 

The primary object of the charge at this point was 
now successfully accomplished, the enemy's first line was 
broken, their works in our possession, and themselves forced 
to fall back on their supports, or surrender as prisoners. 
In effecting this, however, we had suffered serious loss our- 
selves; as, in their eagerness to engage the enemy, the 94th 
and 104th New York had broken through the first line, 
creating considerable confusion, it became necessary to halt 



40 

and reform before advanciDg further, if indeed a further 
advance without supports were practicable. 

Colonel Root, leaving his Brigade to be reformed by his 
Aids and the Regimental officers, now rode to Gen. Gib- 
bon to report progress and receive instructions for his 
farther guidance. The General congratulated him upon 
his success so far, and told him to " go on.^' Certainly, a 
very concise, definite order, and easily given; but, as the 
result proved, not so easily complied with. Shortly after 
this, but not before Colonel Root had again consulted him, 
Gen. Gibbon was wounded and left the field, the command 
of the Division now devolving upon Gen. Taylor. The 
enemy had now rallied, renewing their fire with increased 
vigor, and notwithstanding the efforts of our batteries by a 
rapid, constant and well directed fire to prevent it, threat" 
ened to outflank that portion of our troops now in the 
woods, it was found impossible to advance without further 
reinforcements, and the 26th New York and 90th Pennsyl- 
vania, who had retired by command of Colonel Lyle, to a 
small ravine about one hundred yards to the left and rear, 
with directions to gather cartridges from the boxes of the 
dead and wounded, and open fire upon the troops that had 
followed Meade's Division from the woods, and who were 
seriously annoying us; now, by order of Gen. Taylor, fixed 
bayonets and again charged to the front, under a heavy 
fire from the enemy on the left, and without a round of am- 
munition in their cartridge boxes. Upon reaching the 
railroad they were moved by a right flank to where Root's 
Brigade were still engaged with the enemy, to find them 
sullenly and reluctantly retiring under a fire that cost many 
a poor fellow his life who had bravely advanced unharmed, 



41 

the enemy following no farther than the edge of the woods, 
but continuing their fire. 

We now retired across the Bowling Green road by 
order of Gen. Taylor. The 94tli New York were deployed 
to the front as skirmishers to hold the field, and details 
were made from each regiment to go upon the field and 
collect ammunition from the cartridge boxes of the dead 
and wounded. About this time Birney's Division arrived 
upon the field and took up their position near that we had 
occupied upon first crossing the Bowling Green road in the 
morning, without the exchange of a shot with the enemy, 
except by their skirmishers as they were thrown out in ad- 
vance, relieving ours. Regrets are useless, but I do not 
believe there was a man in our Division who did not con- 
template with painful emotion the result of this day's hard 
fighting, where we had been eight hours under a heavy and 
constant fire, and suflered a loss in the infantry brigades of 
1,334 officers and men killed, wounded and missing; and 
what that result might have been had they (Birney's Divi- 
sion) arrived an hour or two sooner, and before we had 
retired from our dearly bought and bravely won possession 
of the enemy's first line of works. As we withdrew to the 
north side of the Bowliug Green road. Captain Hall of the 
2d Maine Battery, whose loss in men and horses was con- 
siderable, was forced to leave one of his pieces on the 
ground. Upon returning for it with fresh horses, some of 
them were also killed; but he at last succeeded by the use 
of prolonged ropes in dragging it off by liand. At dark 
we received rations and a fresh supply of ammunition, and 
at about 2 o'clock A. M. on the morning of the 14th, the 
Division was moved to the leftj taking position in the rear 



42 

of Gen. Doubleday's first Division, where we remained un- 
til the army re-crossed the river on the night of Monday, 
the 15th. 

In speaking of the "Battle of Fredericksburg/' I have 
frequently heard the question asked, why the 2d and 3d 
Brigades were not ordered to charge the enemy's works at 
the time they first moved forward from the position where 
they so long remained, lying down under the enemy's artil- 
lery fire? But it is extremely doubtful whether a charge 
at that time would have been attended with the same suc- 
cess as that made by the 1st Brigade, who, notwitlistand- 
ing the enemy's fire had been materially diminished by that 
of the 2d and 3d Brigades, were near meeting with a disas- 
trous check. Of the conduct of the officers and men of the 
2d Division upon this occasion, it is impossible to speak too 
highly. There certainly has not been in this, and but sel- 
dom occurs in any war, an instance where there is a great- 
er call for cool, determined courage and other soldier-like 
qualifications; or where that call has been more nobly re- 
sponded to, and by none more promptly or nobly than the 
16th Maine, 1st and 136th Pennsylvania, 2d Brigade, two 
new regiments, who, in this engagement, were under fire 
for the first time. By a reference to a table showing the 
loss in killed, wounded and missing in each regiment, there 
will be found to exist a great disparity in the proportionate 
losses of the various regiments; that of the 26th New York, 
a small regiment, being greater than any other except the 
16th Maine, which greatly exceeded it in numbers. I can 
only account for this by the supposition that the enemy's 
artillery fire must have been more destructive at some por- 
tions of the line than others. Illustrative of this is the 
fact that at the time we first crossed the Bowling Green 



43 

road in the morning and before we had orders to lie down, 
one shell exploding in the ranks of the 9th New York Mili- 
tia, of the 3d Brigade, near the colors, killed and wounded 
ten or a dozen men at one time. Among the field officers 
wounded besides Gen. Gibbons, in command of the Division, 
were Colonel Prey, 104th New York; Major Sharpe, lOSth 
New York, 1st Brigade; Major Jennings, 26th New York, 
Major Sellers, 90th Pennsylvania, 2d Brigade, and Colonel 
Colter of the " Old Eleventh Pennsylvania," 3d Brigade, 
who, with his usual indomitable courage and strength of 
will, remained on the field in command of his regiment 
sometime after receiving his wound. 



TABLE SHOWIKG THE LOSS IN KILLED, WOUNDED AND MISSDCG, OF EACH 
REGIMENT OF THE SECOND DIVISION, FIRST ARMY CORPS, FREDERICKS- 
BURG, DECEMBER 13tH, 1863. 



FIRST BRIGADE. 



KILLED. 



WOUNDED. 
Offlcf-rs. I Men. 



MISSING. 
Ofliors. I Men. 



Total, 



I 2 



12th Mass... 
26th N. Y.,. 
136th Pa.,.. 
90th Pa.,... 



Total, 



83d N. Y. v.. 
9th N. Y. M. . 
13th Mass.,. . 

11th Pa., 

88th Pa., 

97th N. Y.... 



Total, 



Division, , 



THIRD BRlv 



I 2 



■^ ?,: 



15 



136 



67 




Total. 



16th Maine,. . 


2 ! 28 


8 


159 


■i 


32 


231 


105th N. Y., . 


10 


5 


157 


I 


4 


178 


104th N. Y.,. 




•5 


8 


37 




2 


52 


94th N. Y.,.. 






4 


45 ^ 


9 


58 


107th Pa.,... 




3 


1 


46 


6 


57 




2 


16 


4 . 


99 




3 




3 


> • 


11 








G 




70 


3 




6 


^ 


-'o 


1 




4 


2 


Jl^i ______ 





124 
15 
92 
34 
37 



302 



t I 92 I 1341 



44 

I regret my inability to give an exact statement of the 
loss in batteries attached to the Division, but it was much 
larger in proportion than that usually suffered by that 
branch of the service, owing to their exposed position and 
the short range from the enemy's batteries. The 2d 
Maine (Capt. Hall) suffered largely, having one of their 
caissons exploded, killing a number of men and horses, by 
a shot from one of the enemy's batteries. Of the nine- 
teen officers present with the 26th New York, besides Ma- 
jor (now Lieutenant Colonel) Jennings, Capts. Shurley, 
Co. C, Neill, Co. D., Palmer, Co. E., and Lieuts. Jones, 
Co. A., (also wounded at Bull Run,) Harlow, Co. B., Hal- 
sted, Co. C, and Smith, Co. E., were wounded ; Capt. 
Neill, Co. D., without having received any apparent ex- 
ternal injury, being struck totally blind by the concussion 
of a shell. Adj. William K. Bacon, or " our little Adju- 
tant,'' as he was familiarly spoken of by the men in refer- 
ence to his youth and sraallness of stature, having recov- 
ered from the wound received at Bull Run, and rejoined the 
regiment while on the march from Sharpsburgh, here re- 
ceived another and fatal wound, and died in the Division 
Hospital on this side of the river, his early and untimely 
loss deeply i ogretted by all who knew him. 

On Sundav, the 14th, in company with others, I visited 
that portion of \\^'' ^^ id where. our Division had fought, to 
search for the bodrf^"'*^ comrades, some of whom we found 
and removed to near is^^^'-^^-ivcr, where we gave them a sep- 
arate burial, marking ty^T last sad resting place with 
head-boards obtained IVomVrokcn cracker boxes, and upon 
which we inscribed their n,\mes, company and regiment. 
At this time the woufded had been" removed to the field 



45 

hospitals, but most of the dead remained as they had fall- 
en, in almost every imaghiable position ; one in particular 
I passed two or three times without knowing that he was- 
dead, and uoon havino^ mv attention called to him would 
hai'dly believe it until I had asked one of the pickets who 
was kneeling near him, and in almost exactly the same po- 
sition. He was kneelirig upon his right knee, with his left 
forearm across his left knee, upon which his head was 
slightly reclining, and liis right hand still grasped his rifle 
upon the ground, as if just in the act of rising. The bul- 
let that had caused his death had gone entirely through 
his brain, penetrating liis skull in front and coming out at 
the back of his head. Owing to the near proximity of our 
pickets to tiiose of the enemy, and the flags of truce al- 
most constantly on the field after the battle, there seemed 
to be a greater disposition and better opportunities for the 
soldiers of the belligerent armies fraternizing with each 
other than ever before ; and notwithstanding occasioDal 
skirmishing along the line in whicli each always accused 
the other of having fired the first shot, mortifying sugges- 
tions of Bull Run from them, and cutting rejoinders of 
South Mountain and Antietam from our own men, waiting 
an opportunity to kill each other, and exchanged papers 
and tobacco for sugar and coffee with great industry, 
whenever they had an opportunity. This growing inti- 
macy was looked upon with great suspicion by the rebel 
officers, and with good reason, as it always results, as it 
did in this instance, in the desertion of more or less of 
their men, and was at last the subject of very stringent 
orders from our own commanders, who, I presume, disliked 



46 

this prospect of having the war settled without farther 
testing their own skill and good generalship. 

I cannot take a final leave of the. subject of " the battle 
of Fredericksburg " without relating a little incident, in 
the vain hope that my manner of telling it may afford the 
reader some portion of the amusement its actual occur- 
rence, under my own observation, did me. After the Di- 
vision had retired to the north side of the Bowling Green 
road, 1 saw two stretcher bearers come from the front 
with a very large, heavy man upon a stretcher, and as 
they passed aear a swampy hollow or ravine, they sat it 
down and went down into the hollow to get a drink of 
water. While they were gone, the man upon the stretcher 
raised himself up, looked around, stood upon his feet, and 
at last walked off. The surprise of the stretcher bearers 
at finding him absent when they returned, can better be 
imagined than described ; they looked in every direction, 
but in v^aiu; their burtheu was gone. " What could have 
become of him ?" said one. '* Walked off, 1 suppose,'^ said 
the other, '' but if 1 had the big loafer here again " (doub- 
ling his fists at the same time) " I'd fix him so he wouldn't 
git oft' of another stretcher without help, after our carry- 
ing him so far when there want nothing the matter." 

There was some artillery firing at intervals during Sun- 
day and Monday, the 14th and 15th, but we suftered no 
loss, and on the night of Monday, the 15th, we re-crossed 
the river in the silence and darkness of night, and without 
annoyance from the enemy, whom I do not believe were 
aware of our absence until the following morning. No one 
that was present and witnessed the rapidity, regularity and 
quietness with which this movement was effected, but must 



47 

liave been forcibly struck with the contrast it bore to the 
confusion and mismanagement generally attending hurried 
movements of a large army, even upon occasions where 
time and good order are equally as valuable and impor- 
tant. 

On the morning of the 16th, the whole Division encamp- 
ed in a large open field to the left of the road running from 
Fredericksburg to Belle Plain, where upon our first arrival 
we were visited by some solid shot from one of the enemy's 
batteries, although the distance from the river must have 
been at least two miles. 

Wc remained here untii Saturday tlie 20th, when we 
again marched, and passing White Oak Church, halted 
near Fletcher's Chapel where, with the exception of some 
little shifting, and the few days memorable mud campaign, 
we have remained since. Trie Brigades are encamped at dis- 
tances of from half a mile to one uiile from each other, with- 
in convenient distance of Belle Plain landing, where we ob- 
tain our supplies ; and with the exception of some difficul- 
ty in obtaining wood in the 1st and 8rd Brigad.^s, will, I 
think, compare favorably as to health, comfort and conve- 
nience, with any other portion of the army. The camp of 
the 2nd Brigade, owing to the careful and judicious selec- 
tion of Col. Lyle, is certainly in my opinion, the cleanest, 
healthiest, and most pleasantly located of any in the whole 
army. Between high wood covered hills, which afford 
abundant fuel for our fires, and an excellent protection from 
the bleak chilling winds of winter, winds our little" smoky 
valley " with a small stream running through its centre, 
along the banks of which are springs of clear good water 
almost at our very doors. You need not laugh ! I mean 



48 

doors sure etiongli, for immediately upon our arrival here, 
the men were set to work building log shanties, v/hich, with 
the aid of cracker boxes, and little odd bits of lumber pick- 
ed up here and there, and in many instances carried miles, 
and plenty of Virginia mud to fill up the cracks, they have 
succeeded in rendering tolerably comfortable habitations for 
the winter. We now resumed our drills and other duties 
pertaining to a camp in the field, the monotonous routine 
of which, made familiar to all by the published letters of 
volunteers, need no mention here. 

On the last of December, we were reviewed by G-en. Tay- 
lor, and on the ist of January, Brig. Gen. Robinson assum- 
ed command of the Division. We were again reviewed on 
the 12th of January, and soon after received orders to hold 
ourselves in readiness, with cooked rations, to march at 
any time. Details were made to work upon the roads lead, 
ins: towards Falmouth, indicatins" amove in that direction, 
with the probable intention of crossing the Rappahannock 
at some point higher up, and on the 19th, we received or- 
ders to march on the 20th ; the old proverb of" marching 
orders, and bad weather," holding good as usual. 

On the morning of the 20th of January, there was neither 
snow or rain, but gloomy threatening clouds, and a damp, 
chilly, northeast wind, fully portended the coming storm, 
as we reluctantly unroofed our comfortable shanties, and 
made preparations for another march. Between 11 and 12 
o'clock we fell in and proceeded as far as " White Oak 
Church," when we were halted, and orders were read to 
the different commands, from Gen. Burnside, stating that 
we were again about to engage the enemy under more fa- 
vorable circumstances, aad when the earnest, active zeal, 



49 

determined bravery, and patient endurance which were en- 
joined upon all, were certain to be crowned with brilliant 
and glorious success. The threatening weather, iiowever, 
seemed to impress the troops with gloomy forebodings, that 
even these sanguine orders were powerless to remove, and 
they were received without any demonstrations of applause 
or enthusiasm. Neither was there on the other hand, any 
symptoms of demoralization, there was a willingness and 
determination to do all that human effort could accomplish 
to carry out the design of their commander, whatever that 
design might be, but evidently without any clearly defined 
hope of success. 

And here let me say a few words about the question of 
demoralization in the army, as I view it from the stand 
point of a private soldier, after having seen within less 
than one month of two years service. There has not, is 
not, nor ever will be any demoralization in the volunteer 
armies of the United States, in any way calculated to im- 
pair its efficiency. The men composing tliese armies will 
always have strong preferences for certain Commanders, 
and their own opinions in regard to the wisdom of the 
course pursued by the administration in the various cam- 
paigns, and other measures for the prosecution of the war ; 
and they will freely and boldly assert these prefereaces 
and opinions, believing that in taking up arras in defense 
of their country's flag, they are not called upon to resign 
any of the rights which characterize the American citizen ; 
but they will at the same time, bravely, patiently, and he- 
roically endure the fatigue and hardship of the march, the 
tedious monotony of a life in camp, and the appalling dan- 
gers of the battle-field, wherever, whenever, and undei* 
3 



50 

whatever leaders the properly constituted authorites of 
their country may deem it wise and expedient to place 
them. 

Upon leaving White Oak Church, we proceeded in a 
south-westerly direction, sometimes by the road, then across 
fields, crossing the railroad to Acquia Creek, and on again 
in the direction of the Rappahannock, at some point above 
Falmouth. We marched until after dark and halted in an 
open field, where there was neither wood nor water, just as 
the threatened storm burst over us. Thick and fast it came, 
rain, hail, snow and sleet, accompanied by a cold, disagree- 
able wind, rendering all our efforts to make fires with the 
little wood we could collect in the dark utterly unavailable. 
We had neither poles or pins with which to erect our 
little shelter tents, and were forced to make out the best 
we could by using our guns, bayonets and rammers instead; 
but after we did succeed in getting them up after a fashion 
they were frequently blown down again, and in a short 
time the whole surface of the field in which were encamped 
was covered with water, snow and mud, rendering our posi- 
tion the most comfortless I have ever experienced. 

I frequently read descriptions of the cries, groans and 
lamentations of the wounded and dying upon the battle- 
field, written by persons who were never there; and I 
passed the night after the ''Battle of South Mountain," amid 
the dead and dying on the most hotly contested portion of 
the field, but I have never been able to realize the descrip- 
tions their imaginations enable them to paint so vividly, 
as fully as on the night of the 20th of January. 

Sick, wounded and dying men have neither strength nor 
energy to swell their lugubrious chorus of woe to such a 



51 

pitch as mingled with the howling of the winds, and the 
merciless pelting of the rain, sleet and snow rose on the 
midnight air like a chant of despair from the infernal re- 
gions. Let no one think I exaggerate in this description; 
that would be impossible. Danger, disaster, defeat and the 
fear of instant death could hardly render us more miserable 
than we were for the time being, through the combination 
of circumstances described, added to which was the cer- 
tainty of morning's finding the roads in such a condition 
as to frustrate the objects of the movement in which we 
were engaged, and notwithstanding the discomfort and suf- 
fering to which we were temporarily subjected. That was 
the only matter of really serious importance about it, and 
little incidents were constantly occurring during the night 
that appealed so strongly to our risibles we " couldn't cry 
for laughing." Some of the men who had succeeded in 
getting up their tents immediately upon our first arrival, 
had spread their oil cloths and blankets and gone to sleep, 
to be again awakened by the water gradually rising around 
them, persisted in remaining where they were as long as 
they could keep their noses out of water, swearing like the 
gentleman who was refused admission into the ark, there 
wasn't going to be much of a shower after all. Others 
whose tents had blown down upon them while they were 
asleep, had, upon awaking confused and bewildered, be- 
come inextricably entangled in them, and now crawling', 
tumbling and rolling about, enveloped in their thoroughly- 
saturated tents, reminded one in the darkness of the frolic* 
some gambols of a young hippopotamus. Another who, 
with misplaced confidence in his own security, had partial- 
ly undressed himself before lying down, might now be seen 



52 

shoeless, coatless and hatless in the storm, holding up his 
tent and hurrying his comrade, who is on his hands and 
knees in the mud, trying to re-fasten the pins, like the fel- 
low who held the bear while his friend went home for an 
axe with which to kill him. 

Morning came at last, but with it no abatement of the 
storm; and, although after wringing and folding our blank- 
ets and tents, we still continued our march in the direction 
of the day before, it soon became apparent that all efforts 
to move artillery or the supply and ammunition trains in 
the then exiting state of the roads would be utterly futile; 
and after crossing the road running from Falmouth to Cat- 
lett's Station, we were halted in the woods beyond, where 
we remained encamped until we received orders to return 
to^our old camps, at which we arrived on the night on the 23d. 
Any attempt at description on my part would fail to con- 
vey any adequate idea of the state of the roads at this time. 
I have seen twenty horses hitched to one piece of artillery^ 
where it had sank in the mud until the axles and even the 
piece itself rested upon the surface. Our own trains never 
came up with us during the four days, and although they 
had not proceeded as far as ourselves, did not succeed in 
returning to camp for two days afterward. 

Shortly after our return to camp, where we soon re-fitted 
our shanties, the 90th Pennsylvania and 210 men of the 
136th Pennsylvania, 2d Brigade, were detailed for duty at 
the Landings, leaving the 26th New York, 12th Massa- 
chusetts and remainder of the 186th Pennsylvania, to fur- 
nish the same detail for picket in their turn, as the other 
two brigades of the Division, with five regiments in each, 
and in some instances it has taken every available man in 



53 

the 26tli New York, including pioneers, officers, waiters, 
&c., to fill this detail, the frequent recurrence of which 
during the severe winter weather has been the greatest foe 
to our comfort. The 90th and the detail from the IBGth 
have now been recalled, and five companies of the 26th 
New York are now doing fatigue duty at what is called 
the " New Landing," where, as I am one of the number, I 
hope they may remain until their term of service expires, 
on the 2d of May, to which period we are looking forward, 
with the eager anticipation of being then able, for a time 
at least, to re-visit our friends and homes. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863 bj 

CHARLES S. McCLENTHEN, 

In the Clerk'3 Office of the District Court, for the Northern District of New rork. 



"N 
< 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




DDDE3E7E15S 



